Cunning Plan
Cunning Plan was a featherweight robot that exclusively fought in Series 1 of Robot Wars. Weighing at just under 12kg, it was the lightest robot ever to reach the Grand Final of any series of Robot Wars, which cost it in the title fight. Cunning Plan was sponsored by the University of Reading and displayed the university shield on the top of the robot. Design Cunning Plan was a simple double wedge-shaped robot with an aluminium and steel shell; 1mm aluminium sheet for the sides and top, and 1mm steel for the front and back. The wedge served as the robot's weapon, with its key tactic being to charge into other robots and allow them to run up the wedge and be flipped over. This tactic helped Cunning Plan win its heat. The robot was quite fast, able to get to speeds of approximately 15mph according to the website, though the speed was listed on television as 10mph. The robot itself was painted silver, with the University of Reading shield on its top panel. It had two wheel drive, with two castors on the front to give a zero turning circle. The chassis was made from plywood. The shell was attached to the chassis by 4 bolts, two on each side, however whilst competing, the shell kept coming loose. Cunning Plan also suffered from interference issues during filming, but these did not prevent it from reaching the Grand Final. Etymology The name Cunning Plan may have been derived from the BBC sitcom [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackadder Blackadder], in which the character Baldrick would often declare that he had a "cunning plan" to resolve a problem in which he and the other characters faced. Robot History Series 1 Cunning Plan debuted in Heat D of the First Wars, a heat for only featherweight competitors, where it was first required to run the Gauntlet. Cunning Plan started by reversing out of the turntable, towards the maze route. After spinning around, it reversed, but drove straight into a fence. It quickly turned away from the fence, and after pausing a moment to line up, it drove forwards and turned past the second fence. Despite hitting the fence as it turned, Cunning Plan kept going, driving along the fence, then turning past the third fence. However, as it tried to leave the maze, it drove along the final fence and became caught on the corner as it tried to turn round it. After a little reversing and adjusting of its position, Cunning Plan was able to drive forwards, but drove into an obstacle which blocked it. Cunning Plan reversed, and tried to drive past the drills, but Matilda closed in. Cunning Plan waited behind the springs, and when it tentatively tried to move forwards, the drills came out, blocking it. Matilda rammed into Cunning Plan, and even when Matilda reversed, the drills were still out, blocking Cunning Plan's path. Matilda span, knocking Cunning Plan, but also knocking away the springs. Cunning Plan reversed into Matilda, and she span around, which actually knocked Cunning Plan down the course. Cunning Plan tried to charge to the end, but drove over the spikes, which raised, holding Cunning Plan up. Whilst Cunning Plan was stuck, Matilda chased after it, but drove one wheel over the grille, leaving her stuck. The spikes soon lowered, allowing Cunning Plan to speed to the end, nearly driving through the arena railings as it did so. Cunning Plan was through, but had received a large dent from Matilda, which Oliver Steeples had to flatten out with a hammer. Cunning Plan was through to the Trial stage, which in this heat was Stock Car. Having completed the Gauntlet in a longer time than SAT'arn, Cunning Plan started in second position on the grid. At the start, Cunning Plan charged forwards, but crashed into SAT'arn when SAT'arn drove into the bottom arena railing. The Demolisher also drove into the back of Cunning Plan, and as Cunning Plan reversed, it flipped Demolisher over, then rolled it back onto its wheels. Cunning Plan straightened up and drove on, but at the first corner slowed down, struggling to line itself up to drive in a straight line up the course, which left it in last place. It corrected its position and drove up the course, overtaking Bugs, but had a problem at the top turning. As it tried to correct its positioning, Demolisher bumped into it as it drove past, lapping Cunning Plan as it did so. Cunning Plan got lined up correctly and charged down the course to complete the first lap. The second lap went smoothly for Cunning Plan, apart from a brief moment where it bumped into a wall whist driving through the centre of the course. As Cunning Plan easily steered through its third lap, it stopped to try and right The Demolisher, which had flipped itself over having taken a corner too tightly and clipped the wall whilst in the lead. Cunning Plan pushed it forward, into a wall, but The Demolisher was stuck on the side. Cunning Plan left The Demolisher and finished the lap, and having completed three laps, the race was over and Cunning Plan finished in first place. Not shown on television was a moment after Cunning Plan had completed the final lap where it attacked Krayzee Tokyo, which had broken down during the opening lap. Through to the Arena stage, Cunning Plan faced Bugs for a place in the Heat Final. Cunning Plan started by charging down the arena at its opponent, but Bugs dodged it. As Bugs turned around on the spot, Cunning Plan quickly turned around and drove after Bugs. Bugs appeared to be having control difficulties, and as it tried to keep away from Cunning Plan, it span around on the spot. Cunning Plan caught up and got under Bugs with its wedge, then tried to push Bugs towards the grille, only for Bugs to slip off the side. Cunning Plan crashed into the side railings, but quickly reversed away. As it did so, Bugs span around on the spot and accidentally turned itself onto the grille, where it became immobilised. Whilst Dead Metal attacked Bugs, Cunning Plan drove up the arena and pushed the front of Sergeant Bash before quickly getting away. Dead Metal was unable to pull Bugs off the grille, so Cease was called and Cunning Plan went through. Cunning Plan then fought The Demolisher in the Heat Final. The battle was over very quickly; Cunning Plan started by slowly approaching The Demolisher, and The Demolisher reversed, then drove forwards. Suddenly, Cunning Plan charged forwards, and The Demolisher was instantly flipped onto its back and immobilised. The audience actually started booing after The Demolisher was flipped, prompting Oliver Steeples to shout "I'm sorry everyone!" in the post-battle interview. Having won the Featherweight heat, Cunning Plan entered the Grand Final, where it faced Recyclopse, Roadblock, Robot the Bruce, T.R.A.C.I.E. and Bodyhammer in a six-way melee for the championship. In the opening moments, Cunning Plan charged forwards, driving past Roadblock, and crashed into T.R.A.C.I.E. broadside on, bouncing away and doing a 360 spin. Whilst Roadblock, Recyclopse and T.R.A.C.I.E. fought each other, Bodyhammer went after Cunning Plan, and Cunning Plan's lightness was an immediate weakness as Bodyhammer easily shunted it down the arena, before turning away and leaving it. Cunning Plan turned around and drove up the arena, passing the other robots. Cunning Plan turned around and charged into the back of Robot the Bruce, which was pushing against T.R.A.C.I.E. and Bodyhammer. Cunning Plan reversed, but drove into Roadblock, and before it could get away, T.R.A.C.I.E. suddenly drove up Cunning Plan's wedge. Due to T.R.A.C.I.E.'s weight, Cunning Plan couldn't get out from under T.R.A.C.I.E., and T.R.A.C.I.E. was beached on top of the featherweight. Both robots were immobilised, and declared out of the running, and thus ended Cunning Plan's title hopes. Results |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 2 *Losses: 1 NOTE: Cunning Plan's Gauntlet and Trial runs are not included Series Record CunningPlanInsides.jpg|The insides of Cunning Plan Cunningplan no armour.jpg|The wooden frame of Cunning Plan Oliverstanding.jpg|Oliver Steeples standing on Cunning Plan Outside Robot Wars Despite Cunning Plan being retired after Series 1, Oliver Steeples revealed in 2016 that he still owns the robot, and it is fully functional. Trivia *All of the screws, bolts, sheet metal and aluminium blocks used in the making of Cunning Plan were obtained from the University of Reading's stores. *Just days before the filming of the First Wars, one of Cunning Plan's cooling fans overheated, but Oliver Steeples was able to get a replacement in time.Cunning Plan on Oliver Steeples' website. *Cunning Plan is one of 23 robots to have completed The Gauntlet, and one of only 3 featherweights to do so (alongside Demolisher and SAT'arn). *Cunning Plan is the one of the few robot without a moving weapon to reach a Grand Final, or indeed, win a battle. The other weaponless robots to make the Grand Final are Robot the Bruce and German competitor Tyke, which featured only static spikes. The former of the two fought in the same Grand Final as Cunning Plan. *When Cunning Plan first entered the arena, Jonathan Pearce referred to the robot's builder as a "Star Wars fan". In 2015, Oliver Steeples would later build the R2-D2 model used in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.http://www.starwars.com/news/r2-d2-is-in-star-wars-episode-7-and-hes-fan-made *Cunning Plan never had a judges' decision during its career. *Cunning Plan's burst of speed to finish the Gauntlet almost caused it to go Out of the Arena, which would have made it the first robot to do so. *Cunning Plan broke the record for the shortest battle in its Heat Final battle against The Demolisher at 14 seconds. This remained as the shortest battle until Cerberus defeated Cunning Plan's successor Griffon within 10 seconds in the Third Wars. Honours References Category:UK Series competitors Category:UK Grand Finalists Category:Featherweights Category:Weaponless Robots Category:Robots with more Wins than Losses Category:Robots from Berkshire Category:Robots to complete the Gauntlet Category:Robots to never have a judges' decision Category:Robots from Schools or Universities Category:Robots with names based on film and television Category:Robots which debuted in Series 1 Category:Robots which only fought in Series 1 Category:Robots with cameo appearances in Series 2